10-V-2026.
Having found pangasius in Svetofor overyester, let's do čorba of it, and fry some hake. We counted on pangasius being half water, but the guys outdid themselves, there was 2cm of ice on all sides around the fish. The cold water then congealed the grease in the drain of the kitchen sink, so it stuck, and she had to take it off, clean up, put back, all in premium time, wrongest possible. And still she got everything done on time. I had an oho-ho (v. house dictionary) moment, because I squirted a lengthy line of chili sauce before even checking how much hot pepper she put into the čorba, and still it turned out just as hot as I like it.
We reached Belgrade quite neatly, despite the crowd coming from the other direction. The eighteenwheelers may be banned from the roads on sundays for almost fifty years now, I had to pass one just before Čenta, there's a straight stretch. She, though, got stressed with it, because there was some incoming car. It wasn't even close to scissors, I was already doing 110, when I began returning to my line the distance was still a hefty 300m. But then in Belgrade it took us 20 minutes between getting on the highway and reaching the spot near Two Idiots*, as that's where they laid the kegs to close the left and right lanes. Doing nothing, no machinery, not even one brush stroke anywhere, just closed the lanes, and if they ever begin work, then they'll have begun.
And I held that guitar in [my] hands, Milan was really forthcoming, he explained that this is a Tom Anderson, a solo nutcase from California. Don't know why I expected it to be heavier, maybe I'm stronger in the arms now since the last time I held Nina's Hello Kitty pink guitar.
Tanja was in a very good mood. We went out for a walk to the red playground, luckily without a ball, it didn't really bring much joy last time. Still had one stressful moment, when she climbed that red tubes hemisphere. I sat on a bench until then, finished my cigarette and kept shooting. When she started climbing, I saw that she'd be out of reach there, so got up and came closer. By the time I arrived, she climbed all the way to the top and just sat there. Okay, made this shot, and it's presently on my ikonostas, and then I saw that she doesn't know how to come down, and still doesn't realize that. Well I had such moments as a kid, climb somewhere and then understand that coming down is more complicated. And she was in the catch-me-if-you-can game at the moment, as I circled the dome she'd turn to the other side. Not now not here, please, it's hard everywhere. That's when she understood, and started approaching me. I grabbed her by right thigh and left arm and lowered her, and then waited until my adrenalin flushed out. Ouch.
Of course, this shot stays on the ikonostas for the next two weeks, maybe even longer.
We returned up, and Milan and Lena were discussing the stock market trends. We went on with our spiel that there one can reach a million only by beginning with a billion, and they laughed... they made 6000 last week.
Later in the afternoon Nina called, as she was sitting in [her] car and setting up blueooth so that now Telegram too, sound at least, goes through the car's speakers and mike, and called us to do a sound test. So we saw them all. Sent us a picture of her boyfriend, who sulked somewhat for a while, blocked her on the socials, and then she wrote him an ordinary postcard, which delighted him, so he changed [his] mind and here they had dates on both friday and saturday. Looks a regular guy on the photo, both hair and beard (okay, in our circles that's not normal, both Stanley and Milan shave [their] skulls).
Then we talked with Stanley and Go. He's alone in the shop now, Žolt is on vacation, Roma-Romania-Roma, he's alone holding the fort and the money ain't much. Says the house on šećerana looks better and better... could it be overhauled for 80K$? What, for forty. To see with majstor Mile, give him some work.
Monday, practically nothing, she made soap, I poked into Byo. Didn't go to the garden because rain was readying. And it did fall eventually by dusk, we would have returned by then. But with the current prices of čorba, better not risk going for nothing. On tuesday the rain really fell, at least it watered the tomatoes, and we made a batch of noodles. Finished reading „Amba Sad“ (how I'd translate „Embassytown“, though later I changed [my] mind for „Ambagrad“), and finally looked up what's a Čajna Mijevil (China Mieville). Eh, another Brit, have a dick full of those - there's the whole lineage, Stross, Banks, Reynolds, Morgan, Vinges, Gibson - but then okay, this one is likewise unhinged and on top of it of all science he mostly consumes language theory, the signifier and signified, relationship between consciousness and language, my grounds no less. And he also consumes the „you'll be told later“ but in such a way that it's not that you can't follow the story without reading it twice, as Baxter did, and yet a lot of it turns out different when you pass the point when it gets explained, e.g. ambassadors or the essence of the Language... Good one. I expect varying mileage, because he said he planned to write one of each subgenre.
I noticed that that one cask is not low on rakija, it's almost full of tutifruti, we have twentysome liters of it. Goood... and the year is promising, so we can change tack a little. But for the next bottle we returned to the pear, that's what we have the most.
A sad news on burundi, Bela Maca (white kitty) died. The Romanian, lady on the bicycle, who held lessons of german, wrote (more in photographs) beautiful travelogues on two wheels, and was my favorite opponent on the forum for a while. We had nice series of potshots at each other sometimes. (... 36 words...)
Nina called in the evening, that guy broke up, so she needed to vent it out. The sticking point was his impression that she's going too fast (into a relationship), and he just wanted to know... about the house, said hers isn't big enough for all to live in it, why don't they take a loan for a bigger one, but didn't know if they'd have enough for a down payment. She said she'd have it in a year or two, which started him, what kind of money are you making? Turned out twice as much as he does, which made him withdraw immediately, told her not to call him nor send any snail mail, and then sent yet another long message during this call. Retold, he's working on convincing himself that he's right. Okay, go your merry way.
Wensday. Chilly, and she's feeling a bit dizzy, doesn't feel like bending down, so we didn't go to the garden. Didn't even go to supermarket, sent me. So she still didn't touch her bike, that mirror is there for ten days now. The better the surprise will be :). Having finished reading Mieville, decided to try reading from the start, just to see how different it feels when reading with foreknowledge. And lo, it's the same but not even similar, whatever was said feels the same yet means something else now. I remember what was said from the first time, but the hints of meaning I got then were all misleading, not even close to what it actually meant.
On thursday we did go, and really got a lot done. On the way there I meant to like cast my vote, i.e. to pass through the upmanship on Avala, held for six days in a row now. In front of the photo shop (and once Jasmina's pharmacy) there are students and citizens with „Students are winning“, and across the roundabout, on the gas station's lawn („not illegal, the land belongs to the pump, and I guess they have the permission“) are the SNS ćacis, mayor, directors of public enterprises, their enforced workers. Now that there's enough cars in the city, the approach to Žitni took too long so I gave up. We ate first cherries! Not too ripe, but already edible, eh the delight. Need to pick them soon, and then next when cherries ripen I don't know what we'll do, there'll be so much to pick. We'd have to stay there all day, bring lunch or get it at Bob's, and do it all day...
Upon return we had another „you took my say“ (also house dictionary) moment, the simultaneously occurring idea to return through the Žarka Zrenjanina street. I rarely drive that way, so let's see what's new, and then pass by Avala. Nice, colorful, smiling faces and always enough hands to hold the banner. On the pedestrian [crossing] dividing them from the ćacis, they put a sign pointing across, „bad show“. Over there the frowning faces, all beefed up muscle, sitting unter the awning. As someone on the portals said, „the mayor finally succeeded in doing something, he got the whole city management and public enterprises directory in one place, there under the tent on the marketplace“. I honked my share, of course. They counted yesterday for an hour, seven to eight in the morning, and the citizens and students got 394 honks or other greetings, SNS only 4. That's why I said vote.
Interestingly, I napped cat twice, once after lunch, of just fifteen minutes, another after supper, not much longer. Must be the pancakes, they get me. In the evening called dealer again, set time for half nine, all brief and quick, five kilos of tobacco, no worries until midsummer. In the evening, after entertainment, just three shots, as we were also somewhat tired. Got up at seven in the morning, my nasal cavity swollen again, by the time it receded I wasn't sleepy anymore. Cleaved another half an hour after lunch, and as much after dinner, despite lacking pancakes (which were my excuse yesterday).
Friday, 15th. Congratulated Milan on his birthday, but he has no Telegram so Lena had to pass it on. Ran out of cream for lunch (she told me to buy mileram [ger. Milchrahme] but didn't say cream if they don't have it), so she got on bike and of course went all the way to the local [community centre] and bought bunch of other stuff as well, including another cow's knee for the soup („they didn't have any smaller, kilo and a half“... and it began with the one in the vitrine being huge, we don't have such a pot, so she asked Nada for smaller, and she brought out twenty eaches). And then she said „it's really good, that mirror“. So the surprise failed, when I imagined she'd ask when did I put it and I'd say „as early as preceding monday“. But no matter, what matters is that she likes it and that it does the job.
We fixed that the next day. Doing mostly nothing all day, don't even remember how it passed, the second half of it, having slept til noon. And then in the evening, sitting with the pear, I asked, just in case, was she surprised. Well you said the moped's mirror can't be fitted but now I see you managed to do it. Ah but no, I went to buy this, back when I picked up the starter from repair. Then she got suprised, and I got a honorary kiss :), and extra points for patiently keeping mum about it for eleven days, not to spoil the surprise.
And then twice two short videos arrived. In one, Sanda dances something, with hands tucked into her pyjama legs. In the other, Anita tries out her new sewing machine. Small and compact, works like real. Then Nina called and we talked until Lena called her - everything okay except the situation with guys, seems to be the good ones are long out of print. Or those which are good are already taken, and the remaining are all twisted. Then later, in the regular slot, with Seattleians. Neša, they say, weakly remembers serbian, but he pronounced „mačka“ (cat) properly, which reminded me that we saw a hedgehog on the terrace again, snatching cat food, and he remembered and said „jež“. Stanley has trouble at work, being a mechanic is a screwed field of work, there's responsibility, risk of expensive screwups, and they're underpaid. The other day he spent five extra hours because a part of a replacement assembly was just plain wrong - took him that long to find what was wrong, then to dismantle the assembly and replace that part with one from the old one. And when he finished, there's a loud thump in the neigborhood and the power goes out. An old tree, meter plus change thick, just toppled, a block away. The next day he took Anita to see, and there a guy takes shots of a pancaked car under the trunk. „Is that your car?“ „This WAS my car“. So, now he has no car but has a story.
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* Genex tower, maybe the best example of brutalist architecture, is a twin tower connected with a pasarella on top floor, hence the nickname.
Mentions: Anita Jennifer Berger (Anita), burundi, Byo (Byo), čorba, Gorana Sredljević (Go), house dictionary, Jasmina Vlajin, Jelena Sredljević (Lena), majstor Mile, Milan Nastić, Nenad Berger (Neša), Nevena Sredljević (Nina), rakija, Sanda Sredljević Aquilla (Sanda), Stanley Berger, šećerana, Tanja Nastić, Tasa Radenkov (Carp), tutifruti, Žitni, in serbian
11-V-2026 - 5-VII-2026